Bruised in Baltic Sea, Europe plans ways to tackle Russia shadow fleet

After a string of incidents of undersea sabotage in the Baltic Sea, Europe is planning a crackdown on the Russian shadow fleet.

The ‘shadow fleet’ refers to ships that Russia uses to bypass Western sanctions on its energy sector. These are used ships registered in other countries and flying the flag of countries other than Russia. However, these ships are actually bought and operated opaquely by Russia to transport energy exports. Such ships have been linked to sabotage of undersea cables in European waters as well.

The shadow fleet is now transporting over 80 per cent of all Russian crude oil, Isaac Levi, the Russia-Europe lead at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air think tank, told Politico. In 2024, Levi said that 348 shadow fleet vessels amounting to 40 per cent of Russia’s total oil sales departed from Baltic ports.

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European countries are holding behind-the-scenes talks to mount large-scale seizure of Russian shadow fleet’s ships under national and international laws, according to Politico.

The report comes weeks after a summit of North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (Nato) Baltic Sea members in Finnish capital Helsinki. After the summit, the Nato announced the launch of ‘Baltic Sentry’ initiative to mount an effort to tackle destabilising activities in Baltic Sea.

How Europe plans to check Russian shadow fleet

Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told Politico that there are a lot of opportunities to crack down on the Russian sahdow fleet.

“Close to 50 percent of sanctioned trade [in Russian seaborne oil] is going through the Gulf of Finland,” said Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna. “There are the environmental threats, there are the attacks we’ve had against our undersea infrastructure. Now the question is … what can we do with these ships? We cannot block all the sea, but we can control more … There are lots of opportunities,” said Tsahkna.

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The Politico has reported three broad ways in which European nations may carry out the crackdown.

One, they can grab ships on the basis of environmental laws by saying that these shadow fleet’s ships endanger environment by oil spills. As these are old ships, proving them in violation of environmental provisions should not be hard.

Two, they can use anti-piracy laws to seize these ships. This is where the shadow fleet’s ships’ sabotage of underwater cables comes into picture.

Three, they can enact new laws that make it easier to sieze ships. This could include mandating ships transiting through these waters to use a prescribed list of credible insurers and allowing countries like Estonia and Finland to detain ships from less-trusted operators.

Lithuania’s Energy Minister Žygimantas Vaičiūnas told Politico that the steps are being taken to stop these ships from evading loopholes in Western sanctions.

Challenges to such a plan

Even as these nations recognise the importance of such a plan, there are challenges as well.

Firstly, there is risk of escalation with Russia. Secondly, there is the cost-factor. This is likely to cost millions of dollars.

Thirdly, there are operational challenges. While countries can comfortably sieze ships in their territorial waters up to 12 nautical miles from their shores, such seizures in international waters could be problematic.

Sean Pribyl, a partner specialising in international maritime law at Holland & Knight, told Politico that in limited cases, countries can act past their territorial waters if they see a threat to natural resources in their ’exclusive economic zones’ (EEZs).